Paradip, Oct. 16: The National Human Rights Commission has issued a showcause notice to the state government expressing concern over a mentally-challenged youth, who has been chained for 20 years in Jagatsinghpur district.

It has also asked the district administration to take appropriate measures for his treatment and rehabilitation and file a compliance report. The parents of 26-year-old Sanjay Gudia from Kiyada village of Erasama block in Jagatsinghpur district have kept their son chained for nearly two decades, as they could not afford his psychiatric treatment.

Sanjay’s parents, who were daily-wage-earners, were unable to pay for the cost of his treatment to cure their son’s mental illness. Hence, they kept him chained for about two decades.

The human rights commission yesterday issued the showcause notice to the chief secretary on the issue. Jagatsinghpur collector Satya Kumar Mallick said that keeping a mentally unstable person in chains was a violation of human rights.

“Everybody in the country has a right to life. It means right to healthcare also. Confining a person in chains for so many years is something that the commission disapproves of,” the notice stated.

“We were left with no option but to chain Sanjay. He was a troublemaker,” said Sanjay’s father Ratan Gudia. “The administration has initiated measures to rehabilitate Sanjay. The family has been covered under the gratuitous relief scheme. Sanjay will be sent to a government-run mental health institute in Cuttack and the cost of his treatment will be borne by the district administration,” said the district collector.